Former Jordan race engineer Gary Anderson was delighted to see the low-budget Toro Rosso team score its first win, thanks to the skill of Sebastian Vettel and some helpful weather. And he predicts that the weather could also play a big role in the final four races of the season.
"As we saw in Belgium, when the weather intervenes in F1, it really mixes things up. A rain-affected qualifying session meant that neither Felipe Massa, Lewis Hamilton nor Kimi Raikkonen started from their usual positions on the grid, so we knew we were going to see some action. And it all worked out for Sebastian Vettel, who put together a fantastic weekend. Pole position, and deservedly so. Then on Sunday, he kept his cool and came out with the race win.
For Vettel, scoring the pole position was the Make it Happen moment. As a result, in the race he had a clear track in front of him, with good vision, whereas all the other drivers had to deal with spray from cars in front. The weather on race day also suited Vettel's two stop-strategy, as he could change his tyres and refuel at the same time. Whereas Hamilton, who had planned to stop only once, had to make an extra stop for tyres as the track dried out.
Vettel's team, Toro Rosso, used to be the backmarkers Minardi, and many teams still think of them as such. They probably have a fifth of the budget of the big boys – if that – but they've showed what can be done if you've got an enthusiastic group of people. For example, if you look at a free practice session where the track's a bit wet, the Toro Rosso team will be out there, learning a bit, while if you look at the Ferrari garage they'll probably be sitting back and letting the ‘Minardi team' dry the track for them.
There's a huge enthusiasm in Toro Rosso – they're all real racers, from Gerhard Berger down, and it's fantastic to the see them beat Ferrari, in particular. Toro Rosso buy Ferrari engines, so it's a straight fight with similar equipment, and they've done them over – and trashed McLaren into the bargain.
On face value, it's looking like Massa or Hamilton for the Championship, but anything's possible. Robert Kubica isn't too far away. The next three races could all see rain – as could the final race in Brazil, although that's relatively unlikely. Singapore at night? That could be a whole other story as well. The Championship is still wide open."
